Safety ski binding



July 11,1967 I A. MILLER SAFETYYSKI BINDING a Sheets-Shee t 1 Filed Oct. 23, I964 5 6a 1 is 80 July 11, 1967 E. A. MILLER SAFETY SKI BINDING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 23. 1964 July 11, 1967 E. A. MILLER 3,330,572

SAFETY SKI BINDING Filed Oct. 23, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 as PIC-7.9

United States Patent M 3,330,572 SAFETY SKI BINDING Earl Andrew Miller, Orem, Utah 84057 Filed Oct. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 405,947 3 Claims. (c1. 28011.35)

This invention relates to ski bindings requiring metal boot plates.

It is an object of this invention to provide perforations, indentations or protrusions in the ski boot plates to prevent the skier from slipping when walking in icy conditions without his skis.

Illustrative embodiments of this invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a clamping device for the boot plate.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of said clamping device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the movable clamping part of the clamping device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clamping device and of a boot plate, said boot plate being illustrated at some distance from the clamping device.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are bottom views of embodiments of the boot plate.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the boot plate.

FIGS. 8 to 11 are front views of ditferent boot plates.

FIG. 12 is a View showing the cooperation of the boot plate and the clamping device, when the latter is closed.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the position of the boot plate and of the clamping device when stepping into the binding and FIG. 14 is a side view of a modified boot plate when the clamping device is closed.

FIGS. 1 and 2 as well as FIG. 4 illustrate a clamping device requiring a boot plate on the ski boot. The clamping device consists of a basic plate 1 provided with bearing parts 3 turned upward, in which a clamping part 2 is pivotally mounted about an axis 4. The clamping part 2 as illustrated in FIG. 3 has arms 5 horizontally projecting at either side resting on boot plate 14 in the operating position (closed position), the boot plate being illustrated in dot-dash lines. On a vertical portion 6a of the clamping part 2 under each of the arms 5' a protrusion 6 is provided and is supported against the boot plate. On its front side the clamping part 2 has two bearings 8a, in which a transverse piece 8 of a T-shaped threaded bolt is mounted for pressing against the ski boot in the direction of the ski boot by means of a spring 13 thus pressing the arms 5 and the protrusions 6- on the boot plate 14. The spring 13 at one end engages a nut 12 for adjusting the pressure of the spring and thus the releasing force and the other end of the spring engages a vertically extending section 11 of the basic plate 1. For operating the clamping part 2, a handle 7 is provided and is turned forward in order to avoid the skiers being injured when falling down by an upwardly extending part.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 boot plates 14 are illustrated and are provided with indentations 16 or elongated transverse ribs 16a on their lower side in order to prevent the skier from slipping when walking across icy areas without skis. For fixing the boot plate to the ski boot, bores 17 are provided for permitting screws to be tapped into the sole of the ski boot.

From FIG. 7 it can be seen that the boot plate has a section 18 turned upwards at the toe-part of the outer side of a ski boot 21, on which section the arms 5 of the clamping device 2 are engaged.

In FIGS. 8 to 11 front views of different embodiments of the boot plate -14 are illustrated. All of these embodiments show the upright section 18 being provided on its upper portion with an are 19 in the middle area.

3,330,572 Patented July 11, 1967 The boot plate according to FIG. 8 is provided on both sides of the are 19 with laterally sloping shoulders 20 on which the arms 5 of the clamping device 2 rest, thus holding stationary the boot plate 14.

In FIG. 9 lateral arcs 20a are provided instead of the sloping shoulders 20.

According to FIG. 10 the shoulders 20b can also be constructed horizontally and in such case it Will be advantageous to arrange the arms 5a in sloping position.

FIG. 11 shows a boot plate in which the arc 19 extends to the edge, and the arms 5 of the clamping device 2 rest on said are near the edge.

In FIG. 12 it is seen how the boot plate 14 rests on the clamping device 2.

The slope angle 5 (FIG. 8) of the shoulders 20 and the angle 0: (FIG. 12) of the arms 5 advantageously can 'be adapted to the individual requirements, ie by altering this angle the releasing forces are adjustable.

FIG. 13 illustrates the position of the parts to each other when the skier steps into the ski binding. The clamping part 2 is kept open by means of the bolt 10 actuated by the spring 13, since the transverse part 8 of said bolt is mounted somewhat below the pivotal axis 4 of the clamping part 2 in opened position (bent lever effect). When the boot plate 14 contacts the skirt of the vertical section 6a of the clamping part 2 with the skirt of its upward turned section 18 when the skier steps into the binding, the clamping part is automatically pivoted in the direction of the arrow A, its arms 5 pressing on the shoulders 20 of the boot plate 14 thus engaging them. This position corresponds to that as illustrated in FIG. 14. In this position the spring 13 presses the clamping part 2 into the closed position, since the part 8 of the bolt 10 is now situated above the pivotal axis 4 of the clamping part.

In FIG. 14 the clamping part 2 is not provided with a protrusion 6, but the protrusions 6b are mounted on the vertical portion 18 of the boot plate 14.

The mode of operation of the safety ski binding according to the invention is as follows:

When the ski boot due to a heavy fall of the skier is twisted to the left or to the right due to a lateral overstress, the arc-shaped section 19 of the boot plate 14 presses the left or right arm 5 of the clamping device as a consequence to the cam action of the arc in upward direction and the ski boot can now swing loosely thus preventing injuries to the skier, for example a fracture. When the ski boot is tilting relatively to the ski, the arm 5 of the clamping device positioned the longest distance from the tilting axis is pressed in upward direction by the shoulder 20, 20a of the boot plate, until the arm 5 glides from the shoulder. This measure guarantees a safe release of the ski boot even in the case of extreme tilting stresses. Furthermore, it is necessary that the ski boot is released from the binding in an upward direction, if the skier falls directly over the tips of his skis. In this case the tWo arms 5 are raised by the shoulders 20, 20a of the boot plate 14 until the boot plate is released.

The safety ski binding according to the invention thus guarantees a safe release in five main directions, viz. transverse horizontal release to the left or to the right, transverse tilting release to the left or to the right and release in an upward direction.

It will be understood that changes could be made in the safety ski binding according to this invention without departing from the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. It is, therefore, intended that the device shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing specification shall be considered as illustrative, but should not be limited to the device as shown in the drawings.

What I claim is:

1. In a releasable ski binding of the type requiring a metal boot plate, said boot plate including a base for attachment to a ski boot, means for providing anti-slip surfaces while offering minimum resistance to the positioning of the boot on a ski, said means comprising areas deformed inwardly from the flat face of said base opposite the face to be attached to a ski boot, the total area of said deformed areas being small relative to the total area of said flat face.

2. The releasable ski binding as claimed in claim 1 in which said deformed areas are defined by a plurality of triangular shaped indentations.

3. The releasable ski binding as claimed in claim 1 in which said flat face is provided with a substantially centrally located longitudinally extending area deformed inwardly from the plane of said fiat face for serving as an alignment mark for mounting the binding on a ski.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,116,969 5/1938 Cyr 36--2.5 2,616,714 11/1952 Cubberley. 2,718,403 9/ 1955 Pratt. 2,981,547 4/ 1961 Taggart. 2,991,086 7/ 1961 Woodward. 3,007,707 11/ 1961 Blackwell.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

J. H. BRANNEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A RELEASABLE SKI BINDING OF THE TYPE REQUIRING METAL BOOT PLATE, SAID BOOT PLATE INCLUDING A BASE FOR ATTACHMENT TO A SKI BOOT, MEANS FOR PROVIDING ANTI-SLIP SURFACES WHILE OFFERING MINIMUM RESISTANCE TO THE POSITIONING OF THE BOOT ON A SKI, SAID MEANS COMPRISING AREAS DEFORMED INWARDLY FROM THE FLAT FACE OF SAID BASE OPPOSITE THE FACE TO BE ATTACHED TO A SKI BOOT, THE TOTAL AREA OF SAID DEFORMED AREAS BEING SMALL RELATIVE TO THE TOTAL AREA OF SAID FLAT FACE. 